Department of Surgical Science, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
Department of Medical, Oral and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Chieti, Chieti, Italy.
Eur J Paediatr Dent. 2019 Sep;20(3):233-236. doi: 10.23804/ejpd.2019.20.03.12.
The aim of this work was to evaluate the correlation between different methods (organoleptic evaluation, gas chromatography, salivary ?-galactosidases activity) for the evaluation of halitosis in children. The secondary purpose was to investigate the influence of orthodontic treatment on halitosis.
Study Design: Oral malodour was detected with different methods in 50 children in the Paediatric Dentistry Unit, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy. During the dental visit, level of oral hygiene, tongue coating scores and presence of an orthodontic device, fixed or mobile, were recorded. Two trained and calibrated operators performed the organoleptic evaluation; the Oral ChromaTM device was used for the volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) quantification and salivary ?-galactosidases (S?-g) activity was evaluated through the spectrophotometric method.
The Cohen's Kappa score was used to evaluate the level of agreement between the operators. The Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the linear relationship between continuous variables (e.g. S?-g vs. VSCs values) and the Spearman's correlation coefficient was calculated for ordinal variables (e.g. organoleptic scores) vs. other parameters. The LSD test was used to compare the parameters analysed in the study.
A positive and significant correlation between the organoleptic evaluation, the S?-g, the levels of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and methyl mercaptan (CH3SH) was found. The Spearman's correlation has shown that organoleptic scores were significantly correlated with S?-g (0.664, p<0.001) and the Oral ChromaTM measurements of H2S (0.538, p<0.001) and Ch3SH (0.316, p=0.026). The Pearson's correlation showed that S?-g was statistically significantly correlated with the Oral ChromaTM measurements of H2S (0.379 p=0.007) and Ch3SH (0.299, p=0.0035). Stratifying results for orthodontic treatment, it was possible to show that children under orthodontic treatment, both fixed or removable, were characterised by higher level of S?-g. The organoleptic evaluation and Oral ChromaTM measurements showed that children wearing fixed orthodontic were characterised by higher scores.
There was a significant correlation between the three different techniques for the evaluation of oral malodour in children. Like in the adult population, the increase of S?-g activity was associated with oral malodour. The presence of fixed orthodontic appliances was correlated to increased scores of all methods for the evaluation of halitosis.
本研究旨在评估不同方法（感官评估、气相色谱、唾液β-半乳糖苷酶活性）在儿童口臭评估中的相关性。次要目的是研究正畸治疗对口臭的影响。
研究设计：意大利罗马 Tor Vergata 大学儿科牙科系的 50 名儿童采用不同方法检测口腔异味。在牙科就诊时，记录口腔卫生水平、舌苔评分以及是否存在正畸装置（固定或活动）。两名经过培训和校准的操作人员进行感官评估；使用 Oral ChromaTM 设备定量检测挥发性硫化合物（VSCs），通过分光光度法评估唾液β-半乳糖苷酶（S?-g）活性。
采用 Cohen's Kappa 评分评估操作人员之间的一致性水平。采用 Pearson 相关系数评估连续变量（如 S?-g 与 VSCs 值）之间的线性关系，采用 Spearman 相关系数评估有序变量（如感官评分）与其他参数之间的关系。采用 LSD 检验比较研究中分析的参数。
感官评估、S?-g、硫化氢（H2S）和甲硫醇（CH3SH）水平之间存在正相关且具有统计学意义。Spearman 相关分析显示，感官评分与 S?-g（0.664，p<0.001）和 Oral ChromaTM 测量的 H2S（0.538，p<0.001）和 Ch3SH（0.316，p=0.026）呈显著相关。Pearson 相关分析显示，S?-g 与 Oral ChromaTM 测量的 H2S（0.379，p=0.007）和 Ch3SH（0.299，p=0.0035）呈统计学显著相关。对正畸治疗进行分层分析后，结果表明接受正畸治疗的儿童，无论是固定还是可移动的，S?-g 水平均较高。感官评估和 Oral ChromaTM 测量结果显示，佩戴固定正畸矫治器的儿童口臭评分较高。
本研究中，三种不同的儿童口臭评估技术之间存在显著相关性。与成人人群一样，S?-g 活性的增加与口腔异味相关。固定正畸矫治器的存在与所有口臭评估方法的评分增加相关。
